SEC
Southeastern ConferenceHOOVER, Ala. – LSU safety Eric Reid wore his 2011 Southeastern Conference championship ring to SEC media days Wednesday afternoon, as did quarterback Zach Mettenberger.
Coach Les Miles and receiver Odell Beckham Jr. left theirs back in Baton Rouge, reflecting the somewhat fractured feeling that remains after last season. LSU posted its first 12-0 regular season in school history before throttling Georgia 42-10 at the SEC title game in early December, but the Tigers were surprisingly shellacked 21-0 a month later by Alabama at the BCS title game in New Orleans.
“You go 13-0 and win the West and win the SEC, and those are tremendous accomplishments,” Beckham said while glancing down at his bare hands. “You can’t say it’s a failure by any means, but it’s not exactly what we were looking for.”
So overpowering were the Tigers last season, winning 12 of their 13 games by 13 or more points, that their ineptitude against the Crimson Tide was all the more baffling. A defensive struggle was expected after LSU won 9-6 in overtime during the regular season in Tuscaloosa, but nobody could have projected the Tigers crossing midfield for the first time in the Superdome with less than eight minutes remaining.
Miles was asked Wednesday what millions of SEC football fans across the South have been wondering for months. What happened?